The Coloniality of Global Health (original) (raw)

Imperial or postcolonial governance? Dissecting the genealogy of a global public health strategy

Social Science & Medicine, 2008

During the last decades of the twentieth century it became increasingly apparent that the interrelationship between globalisation and health is extremely complex. This complexity is highlighted in debates surrounding the re-emergence of infectious diseases, where it is recognised that the processes of globalisation have combined to create the conditions where once localised, microbial hazards have come to pose a threat to many western nations. By contrast, in an emerging literature relating to the epidemic of non-communicable diseases, and reflected in the WHO 'Global strategy on diet, physical activity and health', it is the so-called 'western lifestyle' that has been cast as the main threat to a population's health. This paper explores critically global responses to this development. Building on our interest in questions of governance and the ethical management of the healthy body, we examine, whether the global strategy, in seeking to contain the influence of a 'western lifestyle', also promotes contemporary 'western-inspired' approaches to public health practices. The paper indicates that a partial reading of the WHO strategy suggests that certain countries, especially those outside the West, are being captured or 'enframed' by the integrative ambitions of a western 'imperial' vision of global health. However, when interpreted critically through a post-colonial lens, we argue that 'integration' is more complex, and that the subtle and dynamic relations of power that exist between countries of the West/non-West, are exposed.

Security, Disease, Commerce Ideologies of Postcolonial Global Health

Social studies of science, 2002

Public health in the United States and Western Europe has long been allied with national security and international commerce. During the 1990s, American virologists and public health experts capitalized on this historical association, arguing that 'emerging diseases' presented a threat to American political and economic interests. This paper investigates these arguments, which I call the 'emerging diseases worldview', and compares it to colonial-era ideologies of medicine and public health. Three points of comparison are emphasized: the mapping of space and relative importance of territoriality; the increasing emphasis on information and commodity exchange networks; and the transition from metaphors of conversion and a 'civilizing mission', to integration and international development. Although colonial and postcolonial ideologies of global health remain deeply intertwined, significant differences are becoming apparent.

Decolonising global health: if not now, when?

BMJ Global Health, 2020

Author note Statement of positionality: We are graduate students from an elite postsecondary institution in the USA. We acknowledge that 'decolonization' first and foremost calls for a dismantling of white supremacist systems, repatriation of Indigenous land and reparations for colonialism and slavery, but in this piece, we use the term to acknowledge historical legacies of colonialism and redress power imbalances in global health.

Globalization and Global Health

Advances in Nursing Science, 2006

Considerable evidence suggests that neocolonialism, in the form of economic globalization as it has evolved since the 1980s, contributes significantly to the poverty and immense global burden of disease experienced by peoples of the developing world, as well as to escalating environmental degradation of alarming proportions. Nursing's fundamental responsibilities to promote health, prevent disease, and alleviate suffering call for the expression of caring for humanity and environment through political activism at local, national, and international levels to bring about reforms of the current global economic order.

Decolonising Global (Public) Health: from Western universalism to Global pluriversalities

BMJ Global Health, 2020

The struggle of our times, one that has hitherto had no name, is the struggle against this overrepresentation of the western bourgeois Man'-Sylvia Wynter 1 'They(We) are in effect still trapped in a history which they(we) do not understand and until they(we) understand it, they(we) cannot be released from it'-James Baldwin 2 http://gh.bmj.com/

Global health in transition: The coming of neoliberalism

DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals), 2018

Global health as a transnational, intergovernmental, value-based initiative led by the World Health Organization (WHO), working toward improving health and achieving equity in health for all people worldwide, has for years yielded to a growing reliance on corporate-led solutions. Private organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGO), religious and other philanthropic and charitable organizations, increasingly serve a dominant role in setting the global health agenda. Short-term success in combating epidemics and in the provision of funding for project-based initiatives appeals to supporters of marketization of health services. For 30 years, a neoliberal paradigm has dominated the international political economy and hence the governance of global health. A utilitarian logic or the ethics of consequentialism have attained prominence under such banners as effective altruism or venture philanthropy. This contrasts with the merits and relevance of deontological ethics in which rules and moral duty are central. This paper seeks to explain how neo-liberalism became a governing precept and paradigm for global health governance. A priority is to unmask terms and precepts serving as ethos or moral character for corporate actions that benefit vested stakeholders.

A time for new north-south relationships in global health

International journal of general medicine, 2017

The modern concept of globalization in health care and clinical research often carries a positive message for the "Global South" nations of Africa, South America and Southeast Asia. However, bioethical abuse of participants in clinical trials still exists in the Global South. Unethical studies directed by the "Global North", formed by the medically advanced nations in North America, Western Europe and Japan, have been hugely concerning. The issue between the Global North and South is a well-recognized socioeconomic phenomenon of globalization. Medical exploitation has its roots in the socioeconomic interactions of a postcolonial world, and solutions to reducing exploitation require a deeper understanding of these societal models of globalization. We explore the fundamental causes of imbalance and suggest solutions. Reflecting on the globalization model, there must be an effort to empower the Global South nations to direct and govern their own health care systems ...

Book review: Reimagining Global Health

This textbook was written for an undergraduate course on global health at Harvard University, compulsory for those enrolled at Harvard Medical School. It aims to introduce ethical, social, economic, and political theories and methods to medics in order to critically inform their analyses of the frameworks used to build and justify global health movements. As such, the emphasis is on giving the reader the capacity to do the analysis him/herself rather than laying out the full exegesis in the book, which focuses more on outlining theories with brief illustrative examples and case studies.

The corporatization of global health: The impact of neoliberalism

2018

Concomitant with the emergence of a neoliberal precept for global health is the decline in support for publicly funded programs working to alleviate health disparities in poor countries. An unequivocal faith in the privatization and marketization of public health services is evident in current day national policy reforms. Commodification of health services is perceived as a cure-all. Privatization of global health initiatives contrasts with the past institutional paradigm. Corporate and philanthropic power trumps intergovernmental governance. The epistemological precept is clear: Global health is best served with mandated private initiatives. Powerful foundations cause critical shifts in the balance of power among stakeholders and become preeminent players in global health policy agenda formation. The ethics of consequentialism have attained current day prominence. This contrasts with the merits and relevancy of de-ontological ethics in which rules and moral duty are central. In th...